Although I’ve finished doing my four traveler’s notebook journals where I documented each season of the year including my bucket list items, I decided to continue making a seasonal bucket list and adding it to a double page spread in my bullet journal as I really enjoy making them. Today I’m sharing my Autumn 2024 list in which I’ve included some seasonal activity favourites and new things to try. I hope my bucket list inspires you to create your own, whether by simple writing them down in your journal or getting creative and adding hand drawn pictures or making stickers like mine which complement the items.
Before I created my Autumn 2024 bucket list, I revisited my autumn 2023 list so I could be sure I wasn’t just repeating last year’s items. I then spent time writing down all the things I love about the season such as seeing the beautiful colours on the trees, spotting autumn visitors at my local nature reserve, making my home warm and cosy and putting out seasonal decor, trying out new comfort food recipes and warm desserts and so on. I also added new activities I would like to try such as making caramel covered apples on sticks and planning out my TV viewing for the next three months so we can have plenty of series to look forward to as we cosy up each evening.
Having made plenty of notes, I turned lots of them into bucket list items on a scrap piece of paper before making stickers for each of them in Cricut. I also used Canva Pro and downloaded images to go with each. For a few of them, I also downloaded mini pictures either using Canva photos or via Google and turned these into little stickers too. Finally, I used Cricut Design Space and Canva to download watercolour leaves to add further decor in the spaces on the spread.
My finished bucket list BuJo spread
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Final words…
I’m really pleased with how my pages turned out and I hope you like them too. I won’t be creating TN journals to record my progress but I might stick a few photos in my BuJo weeklies to evidence the items as I tick them off. I hope today’s post has encouraged you to give making a seasonal bucket list a go and I would love to see your creation if you would like to share yours to your own blog or email me at laura.j.jones77@gmail.com
Next month, I share my birthday with my niece, Lexi. She’s turning 13 and becoming an official teenager, and I’m going to be slightly older than that! So, I decided to go for a birthday theme for August. I seem to recall that I’ve chosen this particular theme before, but I haven’t even checked back to see my BuJo pages from that occasion, so I’m sure they’ll be completely different.
I hope you enjoy looking through my pages and that they inspire you to do something similar for your own birthday month.
The front cover
My cover was inspired by an image I found in Cricut Design Space. My birthday cake turned out quite different, but the basic shape with two tiers and four candles with stripes is the same.
When I’d finished the design, I outlined it using a Pigma Micron in 0.2 and this helped to detract from the bumpy marks where I shaded places that had a piece of ephemera on the page overleaf. I still felt something was missing and decided to add hundreds and thousands onto the iced cake, which I think made it look more special. I’m pleased with how it turned out despite initially being disappointed because of the marks on the right hand side.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative
The calendar
I found a few pieces of ephemera in my stash to add to these pages, and I then made a few more images to glue in using Cricut Design Space. I created the stars to add to the page to complement the ones on the cover.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Finances
This is my usual income and expenses tracker that I use to help monitor my spending with a few pieces of birthday themed ephemera for decoration. In August, I want to try to keep my purchases to only essentials in order to save money whilst I’m not doing university sessions over the Summer.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative
Record keeping and journalling pages
When Michael and I are taking a short holiday from work, the focus of my bullet journal pages tends to be recording events and places visited, plus a little bit of reflective journalling. I’ve set up a page for the dates around my birthday for the left hand side of the spread and a cute frame for a photograph of the two birthday girls, a number of decorative pieces from my stash and a little room for me to journal about bits and pieces from our celebrations.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative
Final words…
Thank you for visiting my blog today to have a look at my bullet journal set up for August 2024. I hope my pages have provided inspiration and ideas for planning, memory keeping and journalling for your own birthday or the celebrations of family.
Wishing you a healthy and happy August and don’t forget to plan in some ways to enjoy the summer now it has eventually arrived in the UK even if it has waited until the last month of the season!
This time, I’m coming to you with what might be considered a bit of a random BuJo theme for summer. My original idea was to do wildflowers and grasses, but, as my current personal goals are mainly focused on weight loss and body toning, I thought why not choose a theme related to these, so I opted for health and fitness. I wrote lots of ideas on mini post-it notes and then decided which ones I’d actually go ahead and do (with the limited time I had left to be ready for July). Here’s what I have to show you so far:
Quote page
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
This was created using Canva (none pro version), an A5 size portrait size design and a lovely peachy pink colour font. I then added a couple of bits of washi and a little sticker from a page of health and fitness related phrases from my Carpe Diem booklet.
July Cover Page
I had so much fun setting this up and it was nice to make use of some Carpe Diem stickers I already had in my stash. The solid black images of women exercising were made in Cricut Design Space.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
July Calendar
I shifted the boxes on my usual calendar one place to the right so I could add my goals for the month on the left hand side. I’ve now decided that a better target than 10K steps most days would have been 2400+ calories burnt but I can always create a habit tracker for the above instead.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
My reasons why…
I got the idea for this page and a few others from Planning Annie on YouTube. She has lots of ideas for health related spreads and I really recommend watching her ‘health and fitness planner spreads’ video if you need some further inspiration. The ‘reasons why’ I’ve chosen are very personal to me, so, for example, my GP has advised that my blood pressure is at the high end of normal and that my cholesterol levels are slightly elevated from the normal range so related reasons why have, as you can see, been added to the spread.
July Finances
I almost forgot to do my financial tracker as it isn’t something related to the aspects of health I’m focusing on (financial health aside). I’ve been really good at spending no more than I have coming in each month for quite a while now but it’s still interesting to see where my money is going.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Another motivational quote page
With 9lbs lost so far in a relative short frame of time, I’m feeling really motivated to lose more weight. The second part of this popular quote, from Jim Rohn, will hopefully be related to my new and improved eating habits which will join with my regular fitness class habit that I’ve had for a fair few years now.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
My weight loss journey so far…
I thought this spread might help keep my motivation high until eating healthily becomes a habit. I also think it will become useful for making dietary tweaks. Basically, I’m going to record observations (e.g. a particular piece of clothing fits better), thoughts (e.g. this is just the beginning, am I drinking too much water? etc) and feelings (I always feel super hungry before Clubbercise so I need to plan is a filling snack two hours before, I feel much more confident in my new top etc) throughout the coming months to monitor my progress to good health.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Final words…
That’s all of my spreads so far, although, as I said, I might create a habit tracker page ready for the new month. I’ve also decided to go back to a rapid logging style of creating daily pages as I’m finding that my week on two pages layout just doesn’t give me enough room. I will, however, need to record events taking place that week at the top of the page so I know what’s happening and when but this can be done on a Sunday night ready for the week ahead.
However you plan to spend the month of July, I wish you a good one,
As my regular readers will know, my husband and I are off on a week’s holiday later in the month. Before we go on any trip, whether it’s a weekend away, a mid week trip or a longer holiday, without fail, I create a packing list in my bullet journal which includes absolutely everything that I plan to take no matter how obvious the items are – I’ll even list the contents of my handbag even though the stuff is already inside. Today, I’m going to share with you my three reasons for making the aforementioned list and why I believe is an essential part of holiday preparation.
It helps you avoid under or over-packing
Before starting my packing list, I spend time thinking carefully about the length of our holiday and how many days worth of clothing I will need. I’ll also think about whether I will need more than one outfit for any of the days or if it’s likely we will be going out for the day and then coming back in the evening and staying in. Finally, I’ll consider whether any items will be re-worn or if, for example, they might have become sweaty if it’s really hot weather. The same process will be applied to my underwear items so I know I have just the right amount of stuff. This helps me avoid over or under packing and usually means that I have the perfect amount of clothing. After careful consideration I will work on my clothing list, writing down exactly how many of items were I need multiples e.g. 15 pairs of socks, 5 bras etc.
It ensures you don’t forget any essentials
There are always a number of items which you absolutely must take on your holiday. For me, this is things like my medication, mobile phone, debit cards and cash, hairbrush and for somewhere hot, sunscreen, a cap and my sunglasses. These would go on my essentials list and are written down first when I create by bullet journal spread. Doing this ensures you don’t forget any essentials – or at least it does if you run through your list before you set off and tick off all of the items!
You can pack methodically in a (relatively) stress free way
In the past, I’ve found packing my bags for departure extremely stressful, even to the point of inducing tears. Creating a packing list makes things much easier and a hell of a lot calmer. By going down your list for each category, you can get each item folded (or rolled) and ready in a collection so all that remains is to decide where it will go in your suitcase or bag.
As part of my list, I also add a ‘last minute’ list which includes things which will be in use at home before travel e.g. my toothbrush, hairbrush and make up, and tasks which need completing before setting off e.g. emptying the kitchen bin, watering our pots in the front and back garden etc.
You can keep your lists to help you next time
As all of my packing lists are written in my bullet journals, I can flick back and find a similar holiday list to help me get started. So, for example, if we’re going down to visit my parents in the summer time, I can look back at last years list and re-write it with some tweaks such as adding new items of clothing, removing bits and pieces that I no longer own etc. This makes things super quick and easy and again contributes to packing being a less stressful event!
It stops you stressing over forgotten items
My husband always says to me in the car to the airport or on our way to our destination “have you remembered anything that you’ve forgotten yet?”. Invariably, my answer is no, unless I forgot to do my last minute check through like I did when we went to my mum and dad’s house last and I forgot my hairdryer as it was in use prior to setting off. In the past, for my husband, the answer was quite regularly “yes” when I replied “have you?” until he realised a list on his phone might be of great help!
As well as preventing you forgetting things (at least minimising the potential), it also means that you don’t have to then go searching for replacements at your destination. This is particularly helpful if you’re going somewhere remote with limited access to shops, if you prefer particular products (e.g. I only use vegan cosmetics and toiletries) or if you’re going abroad somewhere (especially if you don’t speak the language). It might not be the end of the world if you forget non-essential items but it often causes some form of inconvenience at least.
My packing list for this month’s holiday
There are lots of packing lists examples available online and you can even purchase PDF versions, but personally, I prefer writing my own from scratch for each holiday. This means it’s completely personal to me and relevant to the particular destination, season and length of time I’m away for. I also take my list with me in my bullet journal when I go so that I can do a quick whizz through before we go home so I can check I’ve repacked everything. Below is my packing list for our holiday to Wales. It’s still a work in progress as we’re not heading off yet and I like to take my time with it.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Final words…
I hope you’ve found today’s blog post useful and can see how creating a packing list, for me, is an essential before travel task which is great for making me much more relaxed and better organised. Drawing up your own personalised list can lead to you feel less stressed and better prepared and I promise you will realise what a worthwhile activity it is. I’d love to know where you think would be the best place to write your list (analogue or digital?) and if you can see the benefits of keeping them in a safe place until your next holiday.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Some of my readers have messaged me via email and have expressed an interest in dropping a comment or asking a question after reading a particular blog post. Unfortunately, this involves setting up a WordPress account but, luckily, it doesn’t take long and, once created, you can leave comments on any blog posts (from bloggers who use WordPress) which spark your interest. Also, you don’t need to be a blogger to set up account either. I hope this helps! I plan to paste this into each of my posts in future but have put it in post script so my regular readers and fellow bloggers can ignore!
Last night, having completed all of my spreads for next month, I had a vague recollection that I’d done a butterfly theme in my bullet journal once before. I searched my blog (much quicker than flicking through all of my BuJos) and discovered that I had indeed, back in June 2021, chosen butterflies. However, the pages are quite different today, even though I have stuck with the same calendar layout as this size is perfect for my needs. Whereas last time, I painted and drew outlined butterflies, this time I’ve made use of my Cricut machine and my favourite coloured pencils. I love how my spreads have turned out and I really enjoyed making them.
The front cover
For the front cover, I wanted to create a perfectly symmetrical butterfly outlined in black and shaded in using bright colours. I debated using paint and folded paper like we used to do at school but then I had the idea of printing and cutting an image in Cricut Design Space using sticker paper and then colouring in the interior shapes with Staedtler Ergosoft pencils. I used the add bleed feature when printing so as to ensure the outline was precise and it turned out really well. The tricky bit was peeling the shape from the backing and sticking it down straight and without wrinkles.
To ensure smooth colouring, I blended using a Derwent blending pencil. I also had to be careful to get into the edges of the cut shapes so there was no white space left. After finishing the butterfly, I couldn’t resist adding some gold sparkles using one of my Uniball Signo pens.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Monthly calendar
My calendar uses a combination of Canva Pro and Cricut Design Space. These were printed and cut on transparent vinyl. I also used Design Space fonts to create the title for both the front cover and this spread and the days of the week headers. More sparkles were added using the gold gel pen.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Finances record
Again, I used stickers and gold sparkles to decorate the bottom of my finances record so it’s in keeping with the rest of my pages.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
First weekly spread
I’ve been using this layout for a while now and it provides just enough space for events and a couple of day specific to-dos. This month, I’ve decided to use some days of the week stickers I’ve had for a while, plus some tiny number stickers. Unfortunately the digits don’t quite match the words because I couldn’t find the font that was used for the days which was a pre-produced file on Design Space. I found some butterfly washi in my stash which finishes the page nicely and was much quicker to add than creating a repeating pattern sticker like I did last month.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Final words…
Thank you for visiting my blog to look at my spreads for June. I enjoyed using stickers again to set up my pages and it made it slightly quicker to do than trying to draw and colour lots of symmetrical butterflies. It does take a while to find the images I want though and then I have to turn them into print and cut images, resize them and add offsets to each one. Also, there seems to be some issue with Design Space each time I use it but I guess that’s one of the joys of technology!
Wishing you a happy and healthy June and lets hope the weather starts to improve soon (especially as I want to wear my new pairs of shorts I’ve bought for our Wales holiday),
Keeping it creative 